called the fiscal split or the fiscal cliff because president obama's plan to avoid the fiscal cliff is not exactly flying with republicans. 32 days now count with me 32 tax rates soar, spending cuts automatically kick in and keep in mind there is a date that we're watching also before this, congress break for the holidays in all of 14 days. >> so to review the president's plan calls for $1.6 trillion in tax hikes, $50 billion in new stimulus spending, and $400 billion in unspecified cuts. the president for himself he's heading to a manufacturing plant in pennsylvania today to try to sell that idea. house speaker john boehner's reaction was essentially, get serious. so we want to talk about the numbers behind this. we're going to bring in ken rogoff, professor of economics and public policy at harvard university. you heard the specifics of the plan, $1.6 trillion in new taxes, $400 billion in unspecified cuts, $50 billion in new stimulus. how does this sound to you? >> well, it certainly sounds like a plan. and i do think we have to see some mix of higher revenues starting now and fr